Manifestation of climatic change in the ice phenology of Lake Ladoga over the past 55 years

Abstract

The article presents results of monitoring changes in some phenological characteristics of the ice cover of Lake Ladoga over the past 55 years. A steady tendency has been observed for a decrease in the duration of ice formation and the area of fast ice since the beginning of the 90s. A comparison is made of the average spatial patterns of ice formation dynamics between the periods 1964–1994 and 1993–2019. Since the beginning of the 90s, there has been a change in the ice characteristics of Lake Ladoga, directly related to a reduction in the duration of the cold period. The duration of ice events averaged over the past 30 years has decreased by about a month compared with the previous thirty-year period. Fast ice began to cover only 30% of the lake surface compared to 80% in previous years. The frequency of winters with incomplete freeze-up (remaining ice free areas) increased from two to six years per decade. The warming effect is most clearly seen in the central part of the lake. Such significant changes in the dynamics of ice phenology cannot but affect the functioning of the entire ecosystem of Lake Ladoga.

Keywords

• lake ladoga
• ice coverage
• spatial patterns of ice
• duration of fast ice coverage
• climatic change
• air temperature